New Map Shows Which US Counties Witness The Most UFO Sightings

UFO sightings have been a hot topic in the United States (and across the world) now that more people – including government officials – are coming forward with potential evidence. In fact, for those who are interested, one non-profit organization – NUFORC – is keeping a running record of every UFO sighting in the world. Here’s what the data is telling us!

What Is NUFORC?

The National UFO Reporting Center, or NUFORC for short, is a non-governmental, non-profit agency that records and manages UFO sightings in countries across the globe – though a strong majority of the sightings are reported in the United States and United Kingdom.

NUFORC was founded in 1974 by a man named Robert J. Gribble and has sifted through more than 150,000 UFO sightings over the past 50 years. The organization regularly produces stats, interactive maps, and insight to give people a better idea of what’s being reported – and where.

UFO Sightings Were Down In 2023

In 2023, NUFORC received 4,186 reports of a UFO sighting – which might sound like a lot, but that number is actually down 19% from last year, when they received 5,174 reports. With more than 113,000 sightings reported over the past 23 years, NUFORC receives roughly 4,900 reports per year.

As far as the United States is concerned, California had the most reports – and by a fairly wide margin – in 2023 with 440 (or 37 per month). Florida was the next closest with 293 sightings, while Texas (230), Washington (212), and New York (156) rounded out the top five.

Area 51 One Of Three Major Hotspots

In an attempt to analyze their date, NUFORC released a map that breaks down the nearly 113,000 UFO sightings since 2000 by state county. It gives us a clear view at where the current UFO hotspots are and tells us how many sightings are reported per 100,000 residents.

To no one’s surprise, Lincoln County in Nevada had the highest count at more than 820 reports per 100,000 residents. For those who don’t know, Lincoln County is home to Area 51 – a top-secret Air Force base. Arthur County in Nebraska (619 reports) and Alpine County in California (594 reports) ranked second and third, respectively.

Interactive Map Shows Every UFO Reporting In The World

A second interactive map, available on NUFORC’s official website, gives a detailed view of all the sightings happening around the world – as well as a link to the actual report. The red dots on the map represent sightings in the past, while the green dots represent reports from the past 12 months.

The US and UK have the most sightings by far, but there are also plenty of reports coming out of Europe, the western coast of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Meanwhile, Asia, Antarctica, South America, and Africa don’t show a lot of reports – but that could be a result of a lack of awareness or technology to capture it.

More Sightings On U.S. East Coast, But More People

If you look at the United States on NUFORC’s map, the entire East Coast is practically red, while the West Coast is a little more open. Don’t let this fool you – believe it or not, UFO sightings are much more common on the West Coast. The difference is that more than 80% of Americans live on the East Coast.

Of course, UFO sightings are becoming more popular everywhere – especially since we all have phones in our pockets capable of taking high-quality images and videos. Those who come across something strange in the sky can document it within seconds – which is good because the UFOs usually disappear rather quickly.

Christian Stepien Reveals 2 Most Intriguing Reports Of 2023

In an interview with the New York Post, Christian Stepien – the Chief Technology Officer and webmaster of NUFORC – talked about some of the reports they receive. While some of them are eye-opening and worthy of a closer look, others are a little more ridiculous and hard to believe.

For example, NUFORC allegedly received a report from Alaska – where a man mistook a bird for an alien. To be fair, the bird was diamond-shaped, and it didn’t look like a bird at first glance. With that said, not all reports are ridiculous – and there are two from the past year that stuck out in Stepien’s eyes.

1. Forney, Texas on Jan. 4, 2023

It was about 9:20 p.m. in Forney, Texas – a small town roughly 20 miles west of Dallas – when a resident saw something unusual in the sky. It appeared to be a glowing ‘V’ in the sky, almost resembling a lit computer cursor. According to the person who saw it, there was a ‘cylindrical vase-like structure sitting inside the chevron shape with a hole in the center.’

“I was outside smoking a cigarette. I noticed a large chevron shape hovering in one spot. It had lights running along the outer edge and at times appeared to move from left to right. I see low-flying aircraft all the time and have never seen something so large at this elevation,” the Texan explained to NUFORC.

2. Moab, Utah in May 2021

The other eye-opening report came from Moab, Utah – near Arches National Park. The sighting occurred in May 2021, but wasn’t reported until last year. In the clip, which was about one minute long, two small spherical metal objects fly through the mountains at an extremely high speed.

“There’s certainly a sign that there’s something anomalous going on and it would be nice if the government paid more attention and did some serious research,” Stepien told the New York Post. “You can tell by the way that one guy [the Texan] is talking that he’s pretty blown away by what he’s looking at. A V-shaped craft.”

United States Pentagon Launches New Portal

Last year, the US Department of Defense launched a new website designed to give the public access to declassified reports, findings, and sightings related to UFOs – though they label them ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena,’ or UAPs.

They’re calling it a ‘one-stop-shop’ for those who want more transparency from the government. It came at a time when three military veterans testified in front of Congress – arguing that the government is too secretive about some of the things it knows about UFOs. As more people show interest, expect a higher level of transparence from all those involved.